The iconic Lowell landmark that has seen three centuries awaits its 2013 demolition while a swanky new modern bridge grows beside it. But UMass Lowell professor Chad Montrie wants to keep the memory of the bridge alive with a documentary tentatively titled "Crossing the Bridge."

"We're using the bridge as a narrative anchor," said Montrie, who teaches history, American studies and gender studies at UMass Lowell. "A lot of people focus on the 19th century in Lowell because of the Industrial Revolution, but we want to extend that story into the 20th century and incorporate that into what we do here."

Professor Chad Montrie

The steel bridge, which the city built in 1896, withstood the catastrophic Merrimack River flood of 1936. It was renamed in 1946 to commemorate the lives of 16 Lowell Textile Institute students who died during World War II. These students also will be inducted into the UMass Lowell Veteran's Hall of Fame this year.

Lowell's own Jack Kerouac also features the bridge in a few of his books, most famously in Dr. Sax, where he relates a story from his youth when he saw a man carrying a watermelon collapse and die on the bridge.

"There's a connection between WWII and Kerouac," said "He was in the Navy and served on the USAT Dorchester for eight days before being discharged -- he wasn't the best Marine. The Dorchester went back to sea and got torpedoed. Most of his friends on it died and his brother had already died when he was 4, so he always had this association with death."

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Montrie's documentary will be an eight-to-10 minute short film that will tell the story of the bridge through the lens of the lives of the 16 veterans as well as the Kerouac aspect. He's set up interviews with a few family members of the veterans, but he's always searching for more voices.

"We're looking to find other people who knew these guys or who were at LTI also and went through military training," said Montrie. "Or people who just have a good WWII, Kerouac or bridge story to tell."

Men working on the bridge in the early 20th century. (PHOTOS COURTESY CENTER FOR LOWELL HISTORY)

Montrie will unveil the film, which is partly funded by the Lowell Cultural Council, at a public event in October. But he has many ideas beyond that in terms of distribution. In addition to a DVD format and a website where you can watch the streaming video, "Crossing the Bridge" may also be part of a "walking cinema" mobile app that could allow visitors another way to experience the city.

"In theory, it could find where you are in the city and can bring up the video or bring up images to show you what would have been there in the past," said Montrie.

Montrie hopes the film will be shown not just at the Lowell National Historical Park but also in high schools and middle schools as a teaching tool about Lowell's literature, diversity and history.

LTI students in uniform getting on a Navy plane during WWII (part of the Air Corps program).

"What we want to do is tell the story of Lowell," said Montrie. "Some is being told, but we can do a lot more."

Pilots at air base during WWII, with Thomas Cryan on far right (he was one of the 16 LTI students who died during WWII).

If you are...

— a relative or friend of one of the 16 Lowell Textile Institute students who died in World War II,

— a WWII veteran and/or former LTI student,

— a Kerouac aficionado,

— or someone with good stories about the Textile Memorial Bridge

... and you are interested in being interviewed for the documentary, contact Chad Montrie at 978-934-4275 or at chad_montrie@uml.edu.

Five facts about “Crossing the Bridge”

1. The City of Lowell built the bridge in 1896 and renamed it in 1946 in remembrance of 16 LTI students who died in WWII.

2. The bridge withstood the flood of 1936, when the Merrimack River water level reached a record high of 68.4 feet.

3. The new bridge, currently being constructed right next to the Textile Memorial Bridge, will be named after longtime City Councilor and former Mayor Richard P. Howe.

4. UML history professor Chad Montrie will direct the film and Nathan Hendrie of Tower Hill Films will edit it. Hendrie has worked on Nova and The American Experience, and has also directed and edited a walking cinema tour film of Lawrence called “The Path.”

5. Jack Kerouac used the bridge (which he referred to as the “Moody Street Bridge”) as the setting of his autobiographical story about seeing the “watermelon man” die in his 1959 novel Doctor Sax.

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